ARMENIA.
CONTENTS.
Churches at Dighour, Usunlar, Pitzounda, Bedochwinta, Mokwi,
Etchmiasdin, and Kouthais—Churches at Ani and Samthawis—Details.
CHRONOLOGY.
Dates.
Tiridates converted to Christianity by Gregory II. A.D. 276
St. Gregory confirmed as Pontiff by Pope Sylvester 319
Christianity proscribed and persecuted by the Persians 428-632
Fall of Sassanide dynasty. 632
Establishment of Bagratide dynasty under Ashdod 859
Greatest prosperity under Apas 928
Ashdod III. 951
Sempad II. 977-989
Alp Arslan takes Ani 1064
Gajih, last of the dynasty, slain 1079
Gengis Khan 1222
The architectural province of Armenia forms an almost exact pendant to
that of Greece in the history of Byzantine architecture. Both were early
converted to Christianity, and Greece remained Christian without any
interruption from that time to this. Yet all her earlier churches have
perished, we hardly know why, and left us nothing but an essentially
Mediæval style. Nearly the same thing happened in Armenia, but there the
loss is only too easily accounted for. The Persian persecution in the
5th and 6th centuries must have been severe and lasting, and the great
_bouleversement_ of the Mahomedan irruption in the 7th century would
easily account for the disappearance of all the earlier monuments. When,
in more tranquil times—in the 8th and 9th centuries—the Christians were
permitted to rebuild their churches, we find them all of the same small
type as those of Greece, with tall domes, painted with frescoes
internally, and depending for external effect far more on minute
elaboration of details than on any grandeur of design or proportion.
Although the troubles and persecutions from the 5th to the 8th century
may have caused the destruction of the greater part of the monuments, it
by no means follows that all have perished. On the contrary, we know of
the church above alluded to (p. 428) as still existing at Nisibin and
belonging to the 4th century, and there can be little doubt that many
others exist in various corners of the land; but they have hardly yet
been looked for, at least not by anyone competent to discriminate
between what was really old and what may have belonged to some
subsequent rebuilding or repair.
[Illustration: 343. View of Church at Dighour. (From Texier.)]
Till this more careful examination of the province shall have been
accomplished, our history of the style cannot be carried back beyond the
Hejira. Even then very great difficulty exists in arranging the
materials, and in assigning correct dates to the various examples. In
the works of Texier,[243] Dubois,[244] Brosset,[245] and Grimm[246] some
forty or fifty churches are described and figured in more or less
detail, but in most cases the dates assigned to them are derived from
written testimony only, the authors not having sufficient knowledge of
the style to be able to check the very fallacious evidence of the
_litera scripta_. In consequence of this, the dates usually given are
those of the building of the first church on the spot, whereas, in a
country so troubled by persecution as Armenia, the original church may
have been rebuilt several times, and what we now see is often very
modern indeed.
[Illustration: 344. Plan of Church at Dighour. (From Texier.) Scale 50
ft. to 1 in.]
Among the churches now existing in Armenia, the oldest seems to be that
in the village of Dighour near Ani. There are neither traditions nor
inscriptions to assist in fixing its date; but, from the simplicity of
its form and its quasi-classical details, it is evidently older than any
other known examples, and with the aid of the information conveyed in De
Vogüé’s recent publications we can have little hesitation in assigning
it to the 7th century.[247] The church is not large, being only 95 ft.
long by 82 wide over all. Internally its design is characterised by
extreme solidity and simplicity, and all the details are singularly
classical in outline. The dome is an ellipse, timidly constructed, with
far more than the requisite amount of abutment. One of its most marked
peculiarities is the existence of two external niches placed in
projecting wings and which were no doubt intended to receive altars. Its
flanks are ornamented by three-quarter columns of debased classical
design. These support an architrave which is bent over the heads of the
windows as in the churches of Northern Syria erected during the 6th
century.
[Illustration: 345. Section of Dome at Dighour.]
Its western and lateral doorways are ornamented by horse-shoe arches,
which are worth remarking here, as it is a feature which the Saracenic
architects used so currently and employed for almost every class of
opening. The oldest example of this form known is in the doorway of the
building called Takt-i-Gero on Mount Zagros.[248] In this little shrine,
all the other details are so purely and essentially classic that the
building must be dated before or about the time of Constantine. The
horse-shoe arch again occurs in the church at Dana on the Euphrates in
540.[249] At Dighour we find it used, not in construction but as an
ornamental feature. The stilting of the arch was evidently one of those
experiments which the architects of that time were making in order to
free themselves from the trammels of the Roman semi-circular arch. The
Saracens carried it much further and used it with marked success, but
this is probably the last occasion in which it was employed by a
Christian architect as a decorative expedient.
The six buttresses, with their offsets, which adorn the façade, are
another curious feature in the archæology of this church. If they are
integral parts of the original design, which there seems no reason to
doubt, they anticipate by several centuries the appearance of this form
in Western Europe.
[Illustration: 346. Plan of Church at Usunlar. (From Grimm.) Scale 50
ft. to 1 in.]
[Illustration: 347. West Elevation of Church at Usunlar. (From Grimm.)
Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.]
[Illustration: 348. Plan of Church at Pitzounda. Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.]
One of the oldest and least altered of the Armenian churches seems to be
that of Usunlar, said to have been erected by the Catholicos Jean IV.
between the years 718 and 726. In plan it looks like a peristylar
temple, but the verandahs which surround it are only low arcades, and
have very little affinity with classical forms. These are carried round
the front, but there pierced only by the doorway. The elevation, as here
exhibited, is simple, but sufficiently expresses the internal
arrangements, and, with an octagonal dome, forms, when seen in
perspective, a pleasing object from every point of view. Both plan and
design are, however, exceptional in the province. A far more usual
arrangement is that found at Pitzounda in Abkassia, which may be
considered as the typical form of an Armenian church. It is said to have
been erected by the Emperor Justinian, and there is nothing in the style
or ornamentation of the lower part that seems to gainsay its being his.
But the plan is so like many that belong to a much later age, that we
must hesitate before we can feel sure that it has not been rebuilt at
some more modern date. Its cupola certainly belongs to a period long
after the erection of Sta. Irene at Constantinople (Woodcut No. 327),
when the dome pierced with tall windows had become the fashionable form
of dome in the Byzantine school. Its interior, also, is unusually tall,
and the pointed arches under the dome look like integral parts of the
design, and when so employed belong certainly to a much more modern
date. On the whole, therefore, it seems that this church, as we now see
it, may have been rebuilt in the 9th or 10th century.
[Illustration: 349. Section of Church at Pitzounda. (From Dubois.) No
scale.]
[Illustration: 350. View of Church at Pitzounda. (From Dubois.)]
Whatever its date, it is a pleasing example of the style. Externally it
is devoid of ornament except what is obtained by the insertion of tiles
between the courses of the stone, and a similar relief to the windows;
but even this little introduction of colour gives it a gay and cheerful
appearance, more than could easily be obtained by mouldings or carving
in stone.
The upper galleries of the nave and the chapels of the choir are also
well expressed in the external design, and altogether, for a small
church—which it is (only 137 ft. by 75)—it is as pleasing a composition
as could easily be found.
The idea that the date of this church is considerably more modern than
Dubois and others are inclined to assign to it, is confirmed by a
comparison of its plan with that at Bedochwinta, which Brosset
determines from inscriptions to belong to the date 1556-1575; and the
knowledge lately acquired tends strongly to the conviction that this
plan of church belongs to a later period in the Middle Ages, though it
is difficult to determine when it was introduced, and it may be only a
continuation of a much earlier form.
[Illustration: 351. Church at Bedochwinta. (From Brosset.) Scale 100 ft.
to 1 in.]
One other church of this part of the world seems to claim especial
mention, that of Mokwi, built in the 10th century, and painted as we
learn from inscriptions, between 1080 and 1125. It is a large and
handsome church, but its principal interest lies in the fact that in
dimensions and arrangement it is almost identical with the
contemporaneous church of Sta. Sophia at Novogorod, showing a connection
between the two countries which will be more particularly pointed out
hereafter. It is now very much ruined, and covered with a veil of
creepers which prevents its outward form from being easily
distinguished.
[Illustration: 352. Plan of Church at Mokwi. Scale 100 feet to 1
in.[250]]
As will be perceived, its plan is only an extension of the two last
mentioned, having five aisles instead of three; but it is smaller in
scale and more timid in execution. The church which it most resembles is
that at Trabala in Syria (Woodcut No. 330), which is certainly of an
earlier date than any we are acquainted with further east. Practically
the same plan occurs at Athens (Woodcut No. 338), and at Mistra (Woodcut
No. 339), but these seem on a smaller scale than at Mokwi, so that it
may be considered as the typical form of a Neo-Byzantine church for four
or five centuries, and it would consequently be unsafe to attempt to fix
a date from its peculiarities.
[Illustration: 353. Plan of Church at Etchmiasdin. (From Brosset.) Scale
100 ft. to 1 in.]
[Illustration: 354. Church of Kouthais. (From Dubois.) Scale 100 ft. to
1 in.]
Interesting as these may be in an historical point of view, the most
important ecclesiastical establishment in this part of the world is that
of Etchmiasdin. Here are four churches built on the spots from which,
according to tradition, rose the two arches or rainbows, crossing one
another at right angles, on which our Saviour is said to have sat when
he appeared to St. Gregory. They consequently ought to be at the four
angles of a square, or rectangle of some sort, but this is far from
being the case. The principal of these churches is that whose plan is
represented in Woodcut No. 353. It stands in the centre of a large
square, surrounded by ecclesiastical buildings, and is on the whole
rather an imposing edifice. Its porch is modern; so also, comparatively
speaking, is its dome; but the plan, if not the greater part of the
substructure, is ancient, and exhibits the plainness and simplicity
characteristic of its age. The other three churches lay claim to as
remote a date of foundation as this, but all have been so altered in
modern times that they have now no title to antiquity.
[Illustration: 355. Window at Kouthais. (From Dubois.)]
The idea that the churches at Pitzounda and Bedochwinta must be
comparatively modern is confirmed by comparing their plan with that of
Kouthais, a church which there seems no reasonable ground for doubting
was founded in 1007, and erected, pretty much as we now find it, in the
early part of the 11th century. It has neither coupled piers nor pointed
arches, but is adorned externally with reed-like pilasters and elaborate
frets, such as were certainly employed at Ani in the course of the 11th
century. The annexed elevation (Woodcut No. 355) of one of its windows
exhibits the Armenian style of decoration of this age, but is such as
certainly was not employed before this time, though with various
modifications it became typical of the style at its period of greatest
development.
ANI.
[Illustration: 356. Plan of Cathedral at Ani. (From Texier.) Scale 100
ft. to 1 in.]
[Illustration: 357. Section of Cathedral at Ani. Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.]
Even Etchmiasdin, however, sinks into insignificance, in an
architectural point of view, when compared with Ani, which was the
capital of Armenia during its period of greatest unity and elevation,
and was adorned by the Bagratide dynasty with a series of buildings
which still strike the traveller with admiration, at least for the
beauty of their details; for, like all churches in this part of the
world, they are very small. If, however, the cathedral at Ani is
interesting to the architect from its style, it is still more so to the
archæologist from its date, since there seems no reason to doubt that it
was built in the year 1010, as recorded in an inscription on its walls.
This, perhaps, might be put on one side as a mistake, if it were not
that there are two beautiful inscriptions on the façade, one of which is
dated 1049, the other 1059. To this we must add our knowledge that the
city was sacked by Alp Arslan in 1064, and that the dynasty which alone
could erect such a monument was extinguished in 1080. With all this
evidence, it is startling to find a church not only with pointed arches
but with coupled piers and all the characteristics of a complete
pointed-arch style, such as might be found in Italy or Sicily not
earlier than the 13th century. This peculiarity is, however, confined to
the constructive parts of the interior. The plan is that of Pitzounda or
Bedochwinta, modified only by the superior constructive arrangement
which the pointed arch enabled the architects to introduce; and
externally the only pointed arch anywhere to be detected, is in the
transept, where the arch of the vault is simulated to pass through to
the exterior.
[Illustration: 358. Side Elevation of Cathedral at Ani. Enlarged scale.]
In the plan and elevation of the building will be observed a peculiarity
which was afterwards almost universal in the style. It is the angular
recess which marks the form of the apses outside without breaking the
main lines of the building. In the lateral elevation of this cathedral
(Woodcut No. 358) they are introduced on each side of the portal where
the construction did not require them, in order to match those at the
east end. But in the Cathedral at Samthawis (Woodcut No. 359) they are
seen in their proper places on each side of the central apse. Though
this church was erected between the years 1050-1079, we find these
niches adorned with a foliation (Woodcut No. 360) very like what we are
accustomed to consider the invention of the 14th century in Europe,
though even more elegant than anything of its class used by the Gothic
architects.
At Sandjerli, not far from Ani, is another church, which from
inscriptions translated by M. Brosset, and from sections given by him,
appears to belong to the same date (1033-1044), and to possess coupled
columns and pointed arches like those of the cathedral of Ani, which
indeed it resembles in many points, and which renders the date above
given highly probable.
[Illustration: 359. East Elevation of Chapel at Samthawis. (From
Grimm.)]
[Illustration: 360. Niche at Samthawis. (From Grimm.)]
[Illustration: 361. Plan of Tomb at Ani. (From Texier.)]
[Illustration: 362. Tomb at Ani. (From Texier.)]
The plans above quoted may probably be taken as those most typical of
the style, but in no part of the world are the arrangements of churches
so various. All being small, there were no constructive difficulties to
be encountered, and as no congregation was to be accommodated, the
architects apparently considered themselves at liberty to follow their
fancies in any manner that occurred to them. The consequence is that the
plans of Armenian churches defy classification; some are square, or
rectangles of every conceivable proportion of length to breadth, some
octagons or hexagons, and some of the most indescribable irregularity.
Frequently two, three, or four are grouped and joined together. In some
instances the sacred number of seven are coupled together in one design,
though more generally each little church is an independent erection; but
they are all so small that their plans are of comparatively little
importance. No grandeur of effect or poetry of perspective can be
obtained without considerable dimensions, and these are not to be found
in Armenia.
[Illustration: 363. Tomb at Varzahan. (From Layard’s ‘Nineveh and
Babylon.’)]
There are also some examples of circular churches, but these are far
from being numerous. Generally speaking they are tombs, or connected
with sepulchral rites, and are indeed mere amplifications of the usual
tombs of the natives of the country, which are generally little models
of the domes of Armenian churches placed on the ground, though perhaps
it would be more correct to say that the domes were copied from the
tombs than the reverse.
The most elegant of all those hitherto made known is one found at Ani,
illustrated in Woodcuts Nos. 361, 362. Notwithstanding the smallness of
its dimensions, it is one of the most elegant sepulchral chapels known.
Another on a larger scale (Woodcut No. 363) is borrowed from Mr.
Layard’s book. This tomb shows all the peculiarities of the Armenian
style of the 11th or 12th century. Though so much larger, it is by no
means so beautiful as the last mentioned tomb at Ani. In its
ornamentation a further refinement is introduced, inasmuch as the
reed-like columns are tied together by true love-knots instead of
capitals—a freak not uncommon either in Europe at the same age, or in
the East at the present day, but by no means to be recommended as an
architectural expedient.
[Illustration: 364. Capital at Ani. (From Grimm.)]
[Illustration: 365. Capital at Gelathi. (From Grimm.)]
With scarcely an exception, all the buildings in the Armenian provinces
are so small that they would hardly deserve a place in a history of
architecture were it not for the ingenuity of their plans and the
elegance of their details. The beauty of the latter is so remarkable
that, in order to convey a correct notion of the style, it would be
necessary to illustrate them to an extent incompatible with the scope of
this work. In them too will be found much that has hitherto been
ascribed to other sources. The annexed capital (Woodcut No. 364), for
instance, would generally be put down as Saracenic of the best age, but
it belongs, with a great deal more quite as elegant, to one of the
churches at Ani; and the capital from Gelathi (Woodcut No. 365) would
not excite attention if found in Ireland. The interlacing scrolls which
occupy its head are one of the most usual as well as one of the most
elegant modes of decoration employed in the province, and are applied
with a variety and complexity nowhere else found in stone, though they
may be equalled in some works illustrated by the pen.
Besides, however, its beauty in an artistic point of view, this basket
pattern, as it is sometimes called, is still more so as an Ethnographic
indication which, when properly investigated, may lead to the most
important conclusions. The three following woodcuts, Nos. 366, 367, and
368, taken from churches at a now deserted village called Ish Khan, will
serve to explain its more usual forms; but it occurs almost everywhere
in the Armenian architectural province, and with as infinite a variety
of details as are to be found with its employment in Irish manuscripts.
[Illustration: 366. Window in small Church at Ish Khan, Tortoom. (From a
Photograph.)]
[Illustration: 367. Window in Ish Khan Church, Tortoom. (From a
Photograph.)]
[Illustration: 368. Jamb of doorway at Ish Khan Church, Armenia. (From a
Photograph.)]
Out of Armenia it occurs in the church at Kurtea el Argyisch in
Wallachia (Woodcut No. 385), and is found in Hungary and Styria, and no
antiquary will probably fail to recognise it as the most usual and
beautiful pattern on Irish crosses and Scotch sculptured stones. On the
other hand it occurs frequently in the monolithic deepdans or lamp-posts
and in the temples on the Canarese or West Coast of India, and in all
these instances with so little change of form that it is almost
impossible that these examples should be independent inventions. Still
the gaps in the sequence are so great that it is very difficult to see
how they could emanate from one centre. Few, however, who know anything
of the early architecture of Ireland can fancy that it did come from
Rome across Great Britain, but that it must have had its origin further
east, among some people using groups of churches and small cells,
instead of congregational basilicas. So far, too, as we can yet see, it
is to the East we must look for the original design of the mysterious
round towers which form so characteristic a feature of Irish
architecture, and were afterwards so conspicuous as minars in the East,
and nowhere more so than in Armenia. Recent researches, too, are making
it more and more clear that Nestorian churches did exist all down the
West Coast of India from a very early period, so that it would not be
impossible that from Persia and Armenia they introduced the favourite
style of ornament.
All this may seem idle speculation, and it may turn out that the
similarities are accidental, but at present it certainly does not look
as if they were, and if they do emanate from a common centre, tracing
them back to their original may lead to such curious ethnological and
historical conclusions that it is at all events worth while pointing
them out in order that others may pursue the investigation to its
legitimate conclusion.
Taken altogether, Armenian architecture is far more remarkable for
elegance than for grandeur, and possesses none of that greatness of
conception or beauty of outline essential to an important architectural
style. It is still worthy of more attention than it has hitherto
received, even for its own sake. Its great title to interest will always
be its ethnological value, being the direct descendant of the Sassanian
style, and the immediate parent of that of Russia. At the same time,
standing on the eastern confines of the Byzantine Empire, it received
thence that impress of Christian art which distinguished it from the
former, and which it transmitted to the latter. It thus forms one of
those important links in the chain of architectural history which when
lost render the study of the subject so dark and perplexed, but when
appreciated add so immensely to its philosophical interest.